MY ACCOUNT
Poland coach Czeslaw Michniewicz has “yet to find any weaknesses” in the France team ahead of their last-16 clash at the World Cup on Sunday.
Les Bleus are the defending champions and overwhelming favourites to advance to the quarter-finals, but Michniewicz is hoping hard work can overcome any technical deficiencies.
He said of France: “I have been looking, but I have yet to find any weaknesses. We need to pressure them otherwise they won’t make mistakes. We have analysed them and focused on their style of play.
“They have a wonderful team, a great coach and a nice mix of experienced and young players.”
Poland have been criticised for a defensive approach in Qatar but Michniewicz believes now qualification to the knockout phase has been secured, they can release the shackles.
“The teams that haven’t defended well are already at home and watching on television,” he added. “That was our strategy to get through the group phase and now we want to play differently.
“But football is about winning trophies, you cannot let the opponent score easily. Those that do aren’t here any more. We have defended well and therefore we get the chance to play France.”
Key to that new, bolder strategy will be getting better service to striker Robert Lewandowski.
“We have had issues offensively,” admitted Michniewicz. “We have not been accurate enough in our passing, and we haven’t created enough opportunities for Robert. We need to get the ball to him nearer the penalty box.”
France’s main attacking threat will come from Kylian Mbappe. And Arkadiusz Milik, who played against the Paris Saint-Germain star during his time in Ligue 1 with Marseille, is planning special measures to keep him quiet.
“We need a scooter to catch him because he is so fast,” he said. “It’s difficult to play against him because he’s one of the best players in the world, we’ll need to play collectively and have co-operation in the team because no one individual is able to stop him.”
